SVORD Dresses up Famous Peasant Knife in DAMAX steel

We don’t talk about Svord as often as we want to, so we’re happy to be able to discuss a new variant of their flagship Peasant Knife friction folder today. This one, made in the same fashion as its predecessors, is a bit fancier with upgraded scales and a new blade steel called DAMAX in tow.

If you are not familiar with Svord, it is a small but mighty shop based in New Zealand, run by master cutler Bryan Baker. In a world that is increasingly un-analog, Baker continues to make his blades by hand, with offerings at both the pure, high-end, collector-approved level, as well as entry-level user-grade products. The most famous model in the latter camp is the Peasant Knife. A simple friction folder, the Peasant Knife is all about cutting performance, with a honest, hard-workin’ drop point that comes in two different sizes and is made to be a dead simple, absolutely reliable tool.

This newest Peasant Knife comes in the smaller size, which means its blade is 2.5 inches in length. Done up in the usual Svord hearty drop point shape, the big difference between this and its predecessors is evident at a glance: the blade is made from DAMAX steel. In the incredible current-gen steel market, DAMAX stands out, not so much for its performance, as for its makeup: this is, in the words of manufacturer Alleima (the current name of Sandvik), “the first damascus steel produced on an industrial scale.” That’s a big deal in and of itself, but there’s another twist: this is a stainless damascus, made from layers of two diffrerent steels, 7C27Mo2 and 19C27. Both of these are mid-range steels, known for high corrosion resistance, decent edge retention, and good behavior when taken to the stones.

The result here is a blade with all the visual drama of damascus, but with a modern twist that means it won’t need the special care that all-carbon steel damascus formulations require. Manipulated into open and closed positions with the extended tang, the DAMAX Peasant’s blade is attached to a handle made from wenge wood, an African hardwood with a rich, dark color and grain – a grain whose strong lines compliment the wavy sheen of the DAMAX blade quite nicely.

The Svord DAMAX Peasant Knife is available now.

Knife in Featured Image: Svord DAMAX Peasant Knife

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